Novice Member

The number of TV's out there that have soooo many product numbers is a little confusing. Have seen this TV in some of the usual high street retailers, and it looks really good/vibrant pic etc. Anyone out there actually got one, used it and can give me so reviews/info. Thanks

Standard Member

Yeah, got one a few months ago. Seems Comet have it for around £900.00 now, it's come down a bit lately. I've been well pleased with the picture, particularly with HD. My old set was a Sony Vega crt which had a brilliant picture but haven't been disappointed with the Samsung. If the price difference had been less I may have gone for the 6 series but then you can always say what if.

Novice Member

Thanks Stever28. I've seen it in Comet too and it looks tremendous. I know lots of people will say "Go Plasma" for a 46" TV, but it's just more money. I just cannot make my mind up between the LE46A557 and the Series 6 equivalent which is about £150 more. Also cannot make up my mind about taking Ex Warranty which seems damn expensive. Do I rely on Sale of Goods Acts etc?

Standard Member

Well, if the budget's tight go for the 557, if you feeling like splashing out go for the 6 series, but either way there's always a 'better' screen out there for a few quid more, you just need to set your limit and go for it. Try hassling them for a discount, ask them what their best price is and tell them if it's better than the ticket price you'll have one, worked for me, they knocked £150 off! Generally I never go for extended warranties, but this time the missus was with me and she said get it, apparently they'll do a straight replacement if there's any issues.

Well-known Member

Thanks Stever28. I've seen it in Comet too and it looks tremendous. I know lots of people will say "Go Plasma" for a 46" TV, but it's just more money. I just cannot make my mind up between the LE46A557 and the Series 6 equivalent which is about £150 more. Also cannot make up my mind about taking Ex Warranty which seems damn expensive. Do I rely on Sale of Goods Acts etc?

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Ofcourse u can find a 46" panasonic plasma if your budget is as much as for a 6 series Samsung. They are worth giving a chance.

Novice Member

I was looking at a Panasonic which was next to the Samsung in Comet. The only problem was that the Samsung was being fed with an HD pic and the Panny wasn't. Also the Sammy 6 was about £120 cheaper. So god knows how they expect to sell the Panny. And the guy did not seem too interested in swapping feeds. I was in a bit of a hurry so did not push it. My budget is really set at £1k max.

Stever28, I know you mentioned Comet in your original posting, price wise - did you actually get yours from Comet.

Standard Member

Stever28, I know you mentioned Comet in your original posting, price wise - did you actually get yours from Comet.

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Yes I did, I already had an idea what I was after but it was a bit of an impulse buy as we were just having a look round and I just decided to try my luck with a discount. That said, I've been really pleased with it.

Novice Member

Stever28 - I've looked and looked at all other TV's but keep getting pulled back to this one - the pic looks great, the styling is good and the price is keen for a 46". Just need to see if I can get a bit of discount. They only seemed interested if I was looking to buy something else, like a BD player.
Have you had to upgrade firmware - looking on the forums, this seems to be a bit of nightmare for some TV's.

The trouble with the forums is you can keep on reading and re-reading and end up with a massive headache. There seems to be so much info to take in.

Standard Member

Stever28 - Have you had to upgrade firmware - looking on the forums, this seems to be a bit of nightmare for some TV's.

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It's dead easy to do, you just need a usb stick, there's lots of posts regarding how and what the benefits seem to be, Samsung website has the firmware to load onto usb and instructions, but it really is very easy.

I've upgraded from 1007 to 1011, tried 1015 but didn't look as good to me, haven't tried Blu-Ray - don't have one, only Sky+HD and FreesatHD both via hdmi, good pictures on both.

Novice Member

Well I've had a quick look at their site, and it does seem straightforward enough. How do I know what Firmware the TV has - is it on the box label. Also do you or anyone know what the upgrades sort out. Thanks

Standard Member

Well I've had a quick look at their site, and it does seem straightforward enough. How do I know what Firmware the TV has - is it on the box label. Also do you or anyone know what the upgrades sort out. Thanks

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You have to go into service mode to see the firmware version, with the tv in standby press info-menu-mute-power on the remote and the tv comes on in service mode. You're looking for the version following T-PRLPEUMD, something like 1011.2 or whatever.

Pretty sure there's no public changelog on the firmware, if you read the posts here you'll see what people have found with the different versions. Seems to be personal choice as to what looks good, so don't think you need to update automatically, if the picture looks good leave it as it is.

Oh, by the way, don't mess with any settings in service mode unless you're an expert. Once you've noted the firmware version press power on the remote to exit, the tv goes back into standby. Just by going into service mode will reset all your picture customisations so do it before you tweak all your settings, or at least make a note of them all.

Standard Member

hallo
just bought the SAMSUNG LE46A557 from comets for 750 cash, still figuring everything out as only just got into this after years of stereo,picture is variable depending on source, beowulf looked fantastic, texas chainsaw massacre on bluray was after ten minutes total pants...
using denon 1909 amp and kef 2005.3 speakers as wife did not want me to expand the castle inverse 100 setup from the stereo, sounds ok but still configuring, manuals a mile thick and in alien.

Active Member

this tv is on nextag for just over £800 just now , i saw on todat in dixons and it looked great there was also an lg there i think the 5020 model for £739 for 46 ins which also looked good but the samsung seems to have more reviews on itthe lg screen was more matt finish too.

Standard Member

Well, if the budget's tight go for the 557, if you feeling like splashing out go for the 6 series, but either way there's always a 'better' screen out there for a few quid more, you just need to set your limit and go for it. Try hassling them for a discount, ask them what their best price is and tell them if it's better than the ticket price you'll have one, worked for me, they knocked £150 off! Generally I never go for extended warranties, but this time the missus was with me and she said get it, apparently they'll do a straight replacement if there's any issues.

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Hi Steve,

Thanks for the tip, I managed to get £50 off of a LCD stand and also an HDMI cable for my PS3 with controller charger.

Do you have any good hints for setting up the TV with SCART connections i.e. Cable box?